The Golden Key and The Book Of Ancients
by DIVINE POISON
Summary: Weird things happen in life but this was by far the most weirdest and most amazing. Now there is only two problem; one: they had no idea how to go back. Two: were they really doing the right thing. Four ordinary girls suddenly find themselves stranded inside the world of Harry Potter. Will they survive this dangerous game? Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J K Rowlin
1. Chapter 1

**THE GOLDEN KEY AND THE BOOK OF ANCIENTS**

 _ **CHAPTER 1**_

 _ **THE VISITOR**_

 _Weird things happen in life but this was by far the most weirdest and most amazing. Now there is only two problem; one: they had no idea how to go back. Two: were they really doing the right thing. Four ordinary girls suddenly find themselves stranded inside the world of Harry Potter. Will they survive this dangerous game? Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J K Rowling._

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, sat in his office.

It had been eleven years since the event that changed the wizarding world. Eleven years since the birth of their hailed hero and the supposed death of the Dark Lord Voldemort at his hands. Harry Potter. The young boy who defeated a great evil the moment he was born. The boy who lived.

After the incident things had changed drastically. Muggle born wizards and witches no longer had to hide in fear of certain death.

But Dumbledore knew the war was only about to begin. Harry hasn't saved them all quiet yet. Voldemort will come back. It wasn't a matter of 'if'; it was a matter of 'when'. Dumbledore knew the burden that was placed on the young boy's shoulders since birth. Training the boy is essential.

Dumbledore looked down at the parchment sitting on the table. It was regarding Harry's admission to Hogwarts.

"Would you like to sit with me and enjoy some lemon drops?" Dumbledore spoke without even looking up from the parchment.

His question was answered with soft melodious laughter.

A dark figure emerged from the wall and glided forward. In one fluid motion the figure was sitting in the chair opposite to Dumbledore.

"I was wondering how long it would take for the great Dumbledore to notice my presence." Soft female voice spoke in a slightly mocking tone.

It was a woman that much was sure. She was wearing a black, hooded robe that hid almost all of her features other than her ruby red lips, which was wearing a slight smirk.

"Oh! I noticed you have been standing there since I entered the room… you seem quiet fascinated with my office. So I let it be."

The woman frowned slightly; perhaps she had been hoping that Dumbledore was oblivious to her presence. Then the smirk came back.

"Mmmhmm so the Greatness of Albus Dumbledore is not all talk."

"Why thank you." Dumbledore answered chuckling.

"You are going to have some guests this evening Albus."

"Oh yes! Tonight is the day for the start of the new term after all." But Dumbledore had a feeling that the woman wasn't talking about the new students.

"Oh you are going to have some visitors other than your precious new students Albus." The woman gave an amused chuckle.

Dumbledore was not sure whether it was a warning or a threat, but despite her Death Eater like fashion sense, the woman gave off an aura of trustworthy. Dumbledore could sense no ill intent from the woman at all. But one thing he did sense was power. Power beyond his imagination, that too not brute force but wisdom. She would be dangerous to cross. And given such power it would be almost child splay for someone like her to mask her ill intent. But if she did have such power, which she did, there would be no need for hiding anything at all. So Dumbledore was confused.

"Should I prepare to welcome them then?" Dumbledore asked curiously, his mind working a mile per second.

The smile never once left her lips as she spoke, "Oh! No need Albus. They are pretty harmless children… But…. they would help you win this game, grandmaster"

Dumbledore kept silent but the woman could clearly see the gears turning in his mind. She continued,

"You could win this game without losing any of your precious pawns, dear Albus. And they will be the ones to help you win. If you want them that is…"

She paused letting Dumbledore decide his fate. If he says no then the deal will be over. She would have to find some other way to get what she wants.

"I know all about your plans Albus, about who all you are willing to sacrifice in order to win this battle. You yourself are one of them. Mark my words Albus none of those pawns will survive. Their deaths have been decided the moment to crafted your master plan."

The woman kept quiet after that the man had a good poker face but she could sense rather than see the emotions that were swirling inside of him. She could feel regret, despair, sorrow, stubbornness, the need to protect and a rainbow of many other emotions. She focused and latched on to the regret and slowly fueled it. Nothing too major. Subtle enough not to be sensed. The regret of having to sacrifice his own comrades, one name in particular dealt the old man a heavy blow Severus Snape. The boy had suffered so much and he was only adding to his pain each day, all in the name of a greater good. She pulled back her influence and let his own emotions do the rest.

She felt the chaos that was Albus Dumbledore's mind. She hid her smirk when an almost desperate look came over the man's eyes. He was breaking. But surprising even her, Dumbledore reined his emotions and his emotions were carefully hidden once again. Although she felt the brewing storm inside him she didn't do anything to fuel it, after all getting caught won't do her any good.

"While am happy that you wish to help us, I am not optimistic enough to believe that your actions are the result of your kindness." Dumbledore was serious, the grandfatherly aura he kept up faded to reveal a cunning man.

"And I would call you a fool if you did believe that Albus. You are right of course my offer comes at a price. But before that, what are your opinions regarding my generous offer?"

"I am afraid that I can't make a decision without learning your price and reasons first. What good would it do to have a greater threat created just for eradicating a smaller one?"

"You think I would become a greater threat than Tom Riddle?" she chuckled mirthlessly.

"I only meant that you could. Whether you would or not remains to be known." Dumbledore was not surprised that she knew Vorldemort's real name. After all she seems to know quite a lot.

"I promise you Albus I am not a threat to you or your people. You'll just have to take my word for that. But do try not to cross me…. It could have rather … dangerous outcomes." She chuckled and Dumbledore heard the sinister undertone.

"Your words do little to reassure me. The fact that I don't know anything about you, not even your name, only adds to the reasons for which I can't trust you."

The woman scoffed,

"Albus Albus Albus do you really believe that you are my only option at getting what I want? That is hardly the case. I will get what I require anyway the only one who would have anything to lose is you dear Albus. But I do understand your concerns. So since I am feeling rather generous today I shall indulge your need for knowledge about me and my actions."

 _ **THAT EVENING.**_

One by one all students were called and sorted.

"Potter, Harry" professor McGonagall's voice rang through the hall. The entire hall become silent for a minute and everyone turned their attention to harry who nervously made his way over to the sorting hat.

As harry sat down on the stool murmurs broke out. Everyone one wondering in which house 'The Boy Who Lived' will be sorted into.

Harry was sweating from all the attention he was receiving. Growing up with people who never really spared you a look and then being thrown in to a room full of people, who looked only at you, could do that to you. So yeah harry was not used to all the attention. He was pretty sure his knees were shaking.

He almost jumped out of the stool when the hat's voice startled him.

But at last he managed to convince the hat to place him in Gryffindor. He definitely didn't want to be in Slytherin. Not that he had a problem with snakes; the only snake he ever met was rather nice. He idly wondered if that snake ever made it to Brazil. He sincerely hoped it did.

"Harry, mate snap out of it. Dumbledore is about to make a speech." Ron's voice startled him out of his thoughts.

He turned and saw Dumbledore stand up to give his speech. Dumbledore opened his mouth and… screamed? Harry was confused that's when he noticed that Dumbledore wasn't the one who screamed, he looked confused as well.

Every one's attention was drawn to the ceiling which was the source of the screams.

Slowly the four falling bodies came into everyone's view. Judging by the screams they were not doing this out of their choice.

Harry deduced four things;

They were obviously girls.

This was definitely not a usual occurrence judging by everyone's shocked faces.

They were falling to their deaths.

Everyone was too shocked to do a damn thing!

"Somebody do something. Damn it!" harry saw Dumbledore raise his wand. Harry expected something pretty cool to happen (Hey! He was still a kid.).

But all that happened was that the speed of the falling girls slowed. They began slowly floating down like feathers. This was also pretty cool but not as cool some of them wanted.

The girls landed in various parts of the great hall. One of them even landed on the Gryffindor table right in front of Harry. Another one had landed on the headmaster's hands. And the last two girls; both landed on an older student's back. That might have hurt.

The girls were looking around frantically obviously not understanding where they were if the growing panic in their eyes were any indication. All four girls looked to be about 7 or 8 years old no more than that. Harry observed the girl who landed in front of him.

She would only reach his shoulder in height. She had curled black hair that reached her mid back and it was tied in two pigtails. A round chubby face and fair skin. The girl was frantically looking around. Her eyes finally met Harry's and Harry was stunned two wide emerald green eyes stared in to his own forest green eyes. Up on seeing him the kid's (it feels good to call someone else the kid sometimes…) eyes widened comically and she looked like she was about to faint or hyperventilate or both. Harry briefly thought if that was even possible.

"Hey calm down." Harry spoke softly to calm the kid down. The kid still wide eyed nodded ever so slightly. Harry sighed in relief.

"Don't go fainting now okay?" Harry said with a brief chuckle.

"Faint?" the girl asked shyly biting her petal pink lips.

Her voice was soft and childish, Harry noted.

And then she fainted.

Harry almost groaned. He was trying to not make her faint. He looked over and saw that the other three girls had fainted as well. Almost the entire Gryffindor table was now staring at him. This time he really did groan.

Mean while, Dumbledore looked at the little girl who had fallen on his hands. When she had told him of the visitors he never thought they would fall out of the ceiling.

The girl was looking at him with wide amethyst eyes which seemed to go wider as her eyes flashed with recognition. So the girl knows him. He was not surprised; the woman had said that they would know quite a few things about them all. She had a chubby face and tan skin. Soft feathery hair with bangs framing her face. Her lips seem to be set in a constant pout.

Is this who he was supposed to trust? These children who were not even old enough to be their first year? The woman had explained all the conditions. She told him that the girls knew things that would certainly help him achieve his goals. But they were children! He sighed. He might as well trust the woman's judgment on these kids there was not much he could do otherwise. Somewhere during his inner monologue, (during which he was having a staring contest with the girl) the kid had apparently fainted. He sighed tiredly. Sometimes he wished he had opened a candy store instead of becoming headmaster.

One Cedric Diggory was in a rather painful position. That could happen if two eight year olds suddenly landed on your back.

He groaned. The kids must have realized they were not on a piggy back ride, because they scrambled off of his back allowing him to regain his bearings. The kids were now standing of to the side staring wide eyed at him and then at everything else, including themselves.

One girl had sapphire blue eyes. She was tanned with long black hair in a ponytail with bangs framing her chubby face and she was very amazed and was looking around with her mouth hanging open.

The next girl had topaz eyes almost like molten gold. Her skin was like ivory and her slightly curled jet black hair was kept open allowing it frame her chubby face freely and a few bangs fell over her eyes. The girl kept pinching herself probably thinking that she was dreaming. When the pinching didn't work she became more and more panicked and then before he got a chance to calm her down, she fainted.

The soft thud of her friend hitting the floor got the other girls attention. She looked at the fallen girl with wide eyes then looked at him questioningly.

"She…fainted" Cedric said softly to the girl.

"Fainted? Mmhmm good idea." And with that she too fainted.

Cedric looked at the fallen girls not really knowing what to do.

Sometime later the great hall erupted in chatter. Some other professors had taken all four girls to the infirmary sometime ago. After the feast started Dumbledore had also left, probably to check on the mysterious girls.

Every student had his or her own theory about the kids.

"They must've used some teleportation spell to get here."

"But how did they get past the wards around Hogwarts?"

"What if they were send by some really powerful enemy?!" followed by some horrified gasps.

Harry snorted at the idea of the girls being sent by some enemy. The girls seemed as surprised as them all.

"They must be very powerful!"

Harry had the same thought; their cute looks were really a great weapon. Adults especially woman had a thing for all things cute especially if said thing was a living creature. He had seen many people bought down on their knees by a simple pout. So yeah they were very powerful. But maybe everyone was not thinking in the same direction as him.

"They were just kids. Did you see how those stupid brats were screaming for their lives? And you believe they could do anything remotely dangerous to us?" a very familiar and annoying voice announced at the Slytherin table.

There were many sounds of agreements and laughter.

Harry just hoped that the kids were alright. He too was curious but he was too tired to care. So he silently listened to the theories by his friends. One theory caught his attention. What were the chances that the girl who had fallen in front of him being related to him? He understood their suspicion. She had black hair and green eyes like him.

"But Harry's eyes are a shade darker than her eyes and Harry has paler skin than her. The shape of their eyes and face was also different." Hermione's statement surprised him. He was surprised that she paid that much attention to him. He looked at her quizzically and she flushed when everyone looked at her.

"You a fan Hermione?" some other girl asked giggling.

"N-no! It's just that when I first saw the girl I entertained the idea of them being related so I just observed them both that's it!"

"Whatever you say Hermione…" sang both Fred and George.

Hermione hid her face in her hands. She was the subject of their teasing for a while, but it helped them to become friendlier with her. She noticed this too and once in awhile began teasing the others.

Ron was having fun making up many theories about fallen angels and little devils, veela or whatever that is.

After dinner all of them were led into the Gryffindor common room. But Harry couldn't stop thinking about the green eyed girl. A tiny hint of hope that maybe just maybe she was family. He knew aunt petunia was his mother's sister. But he wasn't sure about his father's family. He decided it was better not to think too much and give him false hope. The world had many people who looked similar.

In the infirmary Dumbledore stood observing as Madam Pomfrey or Poppy as he called her, worked on the four unconscious girls. Professor Severus Snape who was their potions master stood beside Dumbledore. The next person was professor McGonagall who was looking on worried.

Finally madam Pomfrey sighed.

"I don't know what people teach kids these days." She grumbled.

"How are they Poppy?" Dumbledore asked softly.

"They are fine. Exhausted from almost draining their magical energy dry. There are no other problems. Nothing a good sleep wouldn't fix."

"Exhausting their magical energy? That can only mean that they had been using wand less magic, otherwise it should be near impossible for someone to dry up their magical core." Snape said eyes narrowing.

"Are you saying that these children, used wand less magic to get past Hogwarts magical wards? That should be impossible. Wand less magic should be weak as it is and these are children, they would not have gotten their hands on a spell powerful enough for that." Minerva McGonagall was worried.

"Well Minerva these four have already proven that such a thing is possible." Dumbledore said calmly, his blue eyes twinkling.

"But Albus does that not mean that our wards are not powerful enough? If these children could do it then…" McGonagall trailed of nervously.

"I believe that what these four did was only possible due a certain set of circumstances Minerva. I am fully convinced that this will not happen in normal circumstances." Dumbledore was confident that their mysterious benefactor was involved in it.

"And what do you think those circumstances are Albus?" Snape questioned.

"Well let's ask the children when they wake up. In the mean time we need to strengthen our wards once more it seems." Dumbledore said and send a questioning look at madam Pomfrey.

"They will be awake by tomorrow." She said and left the room.

"It's settled then. We shall have our answers tomorrow." Dumbledore strolled out of the room, followed by Snape and McGonagall. Although he noticed the other presence in the room he chose not to care. It was the same woman who promised to help them. Dumbledore bit back a groan he needed some lemon drops.

As soon as the room was cleared of the professors and the medic, the black cloaked woman stepped out of the shadows and moved towards the sleeping children. She sighed deeply.

"I guess I'll leave you a gift so you won't do anything foolish. Wizards are paranoid we don't want anyone finding out where you are from do we?" the woman said to the sleeping girls giggling.

She hovered her palm above the head of one of the girls first and then repeated it with the other three.

"I hope you provide me some good entertainment… disappointing me will have dangerous consequences." She softly said caressing the cheek of the girl nearest to her.

Out of nowhere a black leather couch and a bucket full of popcorn appeared in the middle of the room. She sat on the couch Indian style with popcorn on her lap, all the while giggling like a maniac (which she probably is).

"It's going to be soooo much fun." She squealed and the couch along with her and her popcorn sunk into the shadows.

"Let the movie begin…" her soft giggles were like the whispers of the wind.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**THE GOLDEN KEY AND THE BOOK OF ANCIENTS**

 _ **chapter 2**_

 _ **How they fell…**_

 _Weird things happen in life but this was by far the most weirdest and most amazing. Now there is only two problem; one: they had no idea how to go back. Two: were they really doing the right thing? Four ordinary girls suddenly find themselves stranded inside the world of Harry Potter. Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J K Rowling._

 _ **6:00 AM MONDAY**_

It was Sunday, no class today. This automatically meant sleeping till noon. So sleep they did.

In this flimsy hostel, in a rather ordinary (AKA boring) town four eighteen year old roommates were currently enjoying their sleep marathon.

Ahalya Kishore, Sayuktha Devagney, Avanthika Agnihotri and Sonu Dharshik slept peacefully.

Occupying one of the lower bunks was Ahalya a girl with long curly black hair reaching her mid back, lightly tanned skin with wide chocolate brown eyes and full pink lips was currently wrapped snugly in her bed sheets dreaming about mermaids, butterflies and a physics test. She was 5.6 feet in height.

On the bed above hers was Avanthika. Long jet black hair reaching her waist, narrow coal black eyes, she had a habit of wearing her specs even while sleeping. Tan skin and pale pink lips. She was the tallest of the four reaching a height of 5.11. She was sleeping while clutching her pillow for dear life.

Then there was Sayuktha in the bed near Ahalya's. She was a pale girl with flawless ivory skin. She had narrow obsidian eyes. She was just about Ahalya's height reaching about 5.5. She was Ahalya's sister in all but blood. She kept mumbling in her sleep about coffee pranks and more coffee.

Last but not least was Sonu; she was the cutest of the four. She had unblemished tan skin and long midnight black hair reaching her waist. Wide deep brown eyes and a chubby face with pink pouty lips. She was only 5 feet in height but that simply added to her charm.

They gladly engaged with their respective dreams enjoying their sleep quite well.

That is until their caretaker came to wake them up.

"Just because it's Sunday does not mean you can sleep in. wake up now!" She hollered.

As if waiting to hear her voice Ahalya jumped out of bed.

"Am awake!" she exclaimed. Her raven black hair in a messy tangle and chocolate brown eyes blinking sleepily. She gave the older women a slight smile. The warden gave an exasperated sigh.

"You are the only one in this room that listen to me anymore." The women looked at the remaining three and sighed grumbling about rebellious teenagers.

Ahalya smiled warmly at her

"You can go I'll wake them up. Don't worry."

The warden nodded "wake them up. And go study. Tell them not to slack off."

The women left the room. Ahalya watched her walk out of the room and sighed. The women will be gone for a few hours since she had driving classes to attend.

Ahalya moved towards Sayuktha and shook her by the shoulders.

"Lemme sleew… Don wanna wake up" came the sleepy retort.

"Who said anything about waking up? Move over and give me some space."

And Sayuktha moved over, Ahalya climbed on to bed with her and slept hugging her.

 _ **9:30 AM**_

"Why bother waking up when you are obviously going to go back to sleep?"

The question was given by Sonu to Ahalya, who simply shrugged in reply.

"Because someone has to wake up. Or the warden will keep yelling her lungs out and besides sis has a reputation to keep up." Sayuktha answered chuckling.

Ahalya and Sayuktha are sisters in all but blood both conveniently call each other 'sis.

Avanthika exited the bathroom, her long black hair damp from the recent bath.

"Yeah, after all the warden thinks she's some kind of perfect student." She giggled.

Ahalya rolled her eyes the spoke with a smirk "You should be grateful. It's because I wake up that you can sleep uninterrupted."

"True" the other three agreed.

Their conversation was interrupted by someone opening the door.

"Hey guys!" greeted the newcomer.

"Oh! Hey Samantha. " Avanthika said smiling.

"What's up? Just came for a visit or is there anything else?" Sayuktha asked not too cheerful about the visit. After all, the friction between Samantha and Sayuktha was famous.

Samantha was from the room above their room. She along with her roommates was the hostel's gossip queens and Sayuktha had a strong dislike for such people, especially with Samantha.

"Yeah… We are going out." Samantha replied.

"Out?" asked Ahalya.

"Yeah, aunty (the warden) told us that she's going to take us to the fair taking place down the street." Samantha said.

"Really?" Sonu asked excited.

Ahalya and Sayuktha exchanged a look. They would rather spend their time sleeping or working on a new story but Sonu and Avanthika seem rather excited.

"So you are coming?" Samantha asked. The question was directed at Ahalya and Sayuktha. It was no secret that the two of them hated going out with the warden and her 'pets' (Samantha and gang.)

Sayuktha narrowed her eyes at the tone. She was about to say no when Ahalya spoke.

"Yup! All four of us will be coming."

Sayuktha looked at Ahalya quizzically; Ahalya simply shrugged and send a glance at Sonu and Avanthika who was cheering. Sayuktha saw this and had a small smile.

Samantha was surprised and missed the small exchange between Ahalya and Sayuktha.

"Oh! Sure I'll tell aunty." With that Samantha left the room.

As soon as she left, Sonu jumped on to Ahalya and Sayuktha encasing them in a hug.

Ahalya pulled Avanthika also into the hug, which caused them to lose balance and fall on to the bed. All of them laughed.

 _ **6:30 PM**_

The four girls found themselves wandering the around the fair.

Sonu and Avanthika were walking ahead pointing at all the interesting sights and chattering excitedly.

Ahalya and Sayuktha walked behind them speaking occasionally about things.

The warden had instructed them to stay close to her and follow her. But these four had been "lost" for quite some time now. They'll probably get an earful for this but who cares this was more fun. Besides they are eighteen years old, they can very well take care of themselves.

"YOU BOTH! Stop right there!" someone cried out from behind them.

Sayuktha and Ahalya startled looked back. An old woman sitting in some kind of antique shop was the one that called out.

They both looked at each other.

"Us?"

"Yes. The both of you." The woman said calmly but in a dubious voice.

Ahalya looked towards Sonu and Avanthika who had stopped and was now looking to see why they stopped. Ahalya motioned for them to come back and they did.

Sayuktha looked at Ahalya with a raised when she saw that Ahalya was about to head towards the old woman's shop. Ahalya saw the look and shrugged with a small smile. Sayuktha shook her head smiling and followed Ahalya, might as well see what this is about.

The four of them reached the shop. It had quite a few interesting things. The old woman studied them carefully. Sayuktha was the only one who bothered to return the woman's scrutinizing look.

The woman was old, like really old. She wore a black robe with a hood covering her snow white hair. Her face was ridden with wrinkles and liver spots. Her eyes were a silver shade of grey that she thought the woman was blind. But seeing how the woman's gaze was focused on her, it was pretty sure she was not blind.

"Are you two done glaring at each other?" Ahalya's voice cut both of them out of their glaring contest. Ahalya then pulled Sayuktha close and whispered

"You really weren't checking out an old woman were you? Because that's just… wrong on so many levels." Sayuktha glared at Ahalya who had a horrified expression on her face at the thought her 'sis' hitting on a senior citizen.

Sayuktha turned her gaze towards her snickering friends. Ahalya snickered along with them causing Sayuktha to sigh.

"So, why did you call us?" Sayuktha questioned the old woman.

The woman nodded slowly,"You my children have been chosen."

"Chosen for what?" Avanthika asked curious.

The woman ignored the girl and looked at Ahalya instead. This caused Avanthika to be pissed off.

"You both have been chosen to be the holders of two priceless possessions." The woman said in a creepy tone.

"Priceless, huh? How much is it?" asked Avanthika.

"Am not doing this for money or anything…" the woman stuttered.

"So you're going to give it to us for free?" Avanthika said without missing a beat.

"Well umm I I can't do that children." The woman said.

"So you want us to buy something from you that's it?" Avanthika chimed.

"Well…" the woman sighed.

The other three simply snickered.

"Give the woman a break Avanthika. First let's see what legendary possessions these two have been chosen for." Sonu said.

"Well you heard the boss so what is it?" Ahalya said.

"Or do you just want the two of us to buy something and believe that it chose us?" Sayuktha added.

The woman looked down miserably.

Now the girls felt a little guilty. They took in the look of the shabby old shop and how not many people even paid it much attention. The poor woman probably doesn't get much business.

Ahalya sighed. It wasn't fun to tease people when they're down.

"So are you going to show us what chose us?" Ahalya asked calmly.

The woman mumbled and took out something from under the table beside her.

It was covered in a worn out royal blue cloth. The woman opened it and there was a book inside it. The book was bound with golden brown leather and in its cover there was a design of vines running along the edges bearing and occasional golden flower. There was nothing written on the cover page.

The woman opened the book and inside it there was a key. It was a golden key attached to a similar chain. The key looked more like a fancy locket with all the intricate patterns and the sparkling green gem in it.

All of them were amazed by the beautiful artifact. They exchanged a few glances and looked at the woman. The woman sighed.

"This is what I want to sell you."

"It's beautiful." Ahalya took the key in her hand and stared at it mesmerized. Sayuktha took the book and examined it. There was nothing written in its pages.

"A page is missing." Sayuktha said. Examining the remnants of the torn off page.

"How much is it?" Ahalya asked the woman.

"The book too." Sayuktha added.

The woman smiled.

"Not much. It will be 200 rupees each."

Ahalya and Sayuktha absent mindedly took their purses and was about to hand the woman the money when Sonu spoke up.

"Only that much? These look much more expensive."

"Well these would've cost much more if they weren't damaged." The woman simply said, her black eyes crinkling amusedly.

"Damaged?" Avanthika said. She knew something was strange about the whole situation. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

"The book, it's missing a page. But what about the key? How is it damaged?" Sonu asked the woman. The woman's black eyes were rather beautiful she noted distractedly. The woman shifted and her hood fell allowing some of her midnight black hair to fall forward. There was a smile on her cherry red lips, as if she knew something they didn't.

"That's for you to find out." Her voice was like flowing honey.

Sonu took a good look at the woman's aristocratic features. She was beautiful. Skin that resembled flawless marble. Full red lips. Obsidian eyes. Midnight black hair looking like it was flowing down her back. There was taunting smirk on her lips. Sonu once again tried to think about what was wrong, but the woman's eyes kept distracting her. Her thoughts scrambled. She looked away from her eyes and saw that her friends were out of it, staring at the woman's eyes.

The woman took the money wordlessly.

"Now be careful with those items. They're very important and very powerful. Use it well; or rather, trust your instincts when you use it. Your mind may fool you. But your instincts will not. They shall save your lives more than your logics." Her voice was still taunting.

"Now go away I have work to do, things to sell. This old lady needs a living." The woman said mockingly.

Old lady? Old lady…. Old lady! Sonu snapped out of the fog covering her mind.

"Wh...What's go…going on?" she stuttered.

"What's wrong?" the woman asked. And Sonu snapped her head to meet the woman and there in front of her was the old woman who they had first seen. Sonu didn't know what to say.

"Anything wrong?" the woman asked again. Sonu wordlessly shook her head.

The other three had the impression that they were waking up from a nap.

"Is that all or do you want to buy something else?" the woman asked them.

"N...no! That will be all." Avanthika said and pulled both Ahalya and Sayuktha out of the shop. Sonu followed wordlessly. They looked back at the shop from a distance the woman kept selling things not once glancing their way.

"Creepy…"

"Yeah…"

That's when their warden found them. Nine of them said anything while the lady scolded them for wandering off. Lucky for them, they weren't the only ones who got 'lost'.

 **8:30 PM**

They were back at the hostel.

They were all sitting at their study table but unable to study. Their thoughts wandered back to the items sitting in their room. But for some reason the creepy incident with the old woman was completely forgotten.

 **10:30 PM**

After dinner the warden had left them all alone. The others all were busy discussing their day at the fair.

There was no light in the hallways. The warden had retired to her room for the night.

The four of them sat in their room after locking the door. Ahalya had the key in her hand and was making the green gem sparkle in the light and enjoying it. Sayuktha sat in her bed turning the pages of the book to find it completely empty. Not one word written in it not even on the cover pages.

"The woman really should've sold this for a higher price." Sayuktha said.

"Would you be able to buy it at a higher price?" Ahalya asked.

"No but…"

"Look at this way, after we left the woman got a lot of business. We bought her good luck." Ahalya said.

"That's a strange reason." Sonu said.

"But it's still a reason." Avanthika commented.

"So what do you think about the mysterious powers of these things?" Sonu asked.

"Complete bull." Sayuktha said.

"Heh! Don't be like that sis." Ahalya said.

"Riiiiight…" Sayuktha drawled;"Let me guess, you already have a story about the key and the book."

Ahalya had a habit of making stories about things. No one can blame her; after all she does have a wild imagination.

"Really? Let's hear it then." Sonu said excited. Avanthika sat down on the bed and got comfortable.

It was almost a custom. Ahalya would write a story and she would tell them the story in the night. They'd add their own comments and Ahalya would improve the story up on their coments.

"There's not much of a story really." Ahalya shrugged.

"Still share us your wisdom, Oh Great One." Avanthika said to which Ahalya glared.

"Hey what's that?" Sonu asked pointing at something behind them. They all turned to look and saw a shadow at the corner of the room: you know… those creepy looking shadows that look like they jumped out of a horror movie or something.

"A shadow?" Ahalya drawled not seeing what was so strange about a shadow at the corner of their room… a shadow that wasn't there earlier… A shadow that shouldn't be there given the lighting of their room… okay now she understood what was strange.

"Umm guys..." Sayuktha's voice startled them out of their stupor. They looked to see what spooked out Sayuktha and were promptly spooked out themselves. The book was lying in their bed and on its cover page was a key hole through which the golden key was inserted.

"What the hell!" Ahalya said startled.

"This is crazy. What's going on?" Sonu said.

The key hole was had intricate gold patterns around it that matched the patterns on the key. There was no was no way they could've missed that earlier.

"That shadow it's gone." Avanthika exclaimed.

Once they confirmed this, they all had no idea what was going on.

"Let's get out of the room. Leave the book there." Avanthika said and tried to open the door found that it was locked from outside.

Now they were terrified.

"Everyone calm down and just breathe." Sayuktha yelled no longer able to take the oppressing panic. This seemed to calm them a bit.

"Take the key off. Maybe that'll work." Avanthika said.

"She's right there was no problem when the key and book were separated." Sonu agreed.

"Okay." Sayuktha skeptically took the book in her hand expecting something to happen. But to her relief nothing happened. At least that' what she thought until,

"The book… its glowing." Sonu whispered.

That's when Sayuktha noticed the faint golden glow of the book. And right before their eyes the vines decorating the edge of the cover page began moving. Then spread and covered the entire page only leaving the pattern surrounding the key hole. The vines moved in a peculiar pattern, which soon matched the pattern around the key hole. The whole cover page was filled with the same intricate patterns and golden flowers began blooming on the cover page at random places releasing golden dust.

The girls were all too mesmerized to act.

Avanthika was the first one to regain her bearing. She noticed the golden dust now floating inside their room and more flowers kept blooming. She snatched the book out of Sayuktha's hand and the flowers and wines at once stopped moving. The others soon snapped out of their stupor.

"Take the key out. Now! " Sonu urged.

Avanthika tried. "It's stuck." She said.

"Damn! Give it to me." Sonu tried this time but the key refused to move.

"Give it to me." Ahalya said.

"I don't think that's a good idea for some reason." Sayuktha said unsure.

"I know. I have the same feeling. But I have a feeling that the key won't move unless it's me." Ahalya said frowning.

"Alright."

The book was given to Ahalya. She was skeptic at first. But then steeled her resolve and touched the key. For moment she waited to see if something would happen, when nothing happened she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Ahalya looked at her friends and they nodded. Relieved that nothing had gone wrong, she was just about to pull out the key when a hot breath hit the back of her neck. She felt terror wash over her and looked up to see the horrified expression on the face of her friends who were standing in front of her.

"Can't have you ending the game even before it starts, now can I?" a honey sweet voice chimed from behind her.

It was a familiar female voice but Ahalya couldn't quiet remember who it was.

Ahalya was frozen. She saw her friends who looked like they were not really there. Their eyes glossed over and vacant.

She flinched when a pale slender hand was placed on top of her hand which was stuck holding the key. She noted that the hand was cold like ice and smooth like marble. Manicured long nails and a golden ring on the ring finger. The hand forcefully moved her own arm causing the key to twist inside the lock. An audible click resonated within the room as if a lock had been opened.

"Enjoy…" the voice said cheerfully.

They all felt like huge weight had been lifted of them. Panicked they looked at each other. But Ahalya was staring at the book in horror.

The front page of the book swung open and inside it was a swirling black hole.

The next thing they know, they were sucked into it.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_


	3. Chapter 3

**THE GOLDEN KEY AND THE BOOK OF ANCIENTS**

 _ **Dream or not…**_

* * *

 ** _Weird things happen in life but this was by far the most weirdest and most amazing. Now there is only two problem; one: they had no idea how to go back. Two: were they really doing the right thing? Four ordinary girls suddenly find themselves stranded inside the world of Harry Potter. Harry Potter and associated characters belong to J K Rowling._**

* * *

Sayuktha groaned as she sat up in her bed. Yesterday she had a really weird dream. Not that this was her first time having weird dreams. She had her fair share of weird dreams, but mostly such dreams were Ahalya's forte.

She rubbed her shoulder slowly. Her whole body felt sore. God what had she been doing last night? She wondered. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of her persistent sleep. Why had she waked up anyway? Her body hurt and she had a genuine reason for staying in bed (not that she needed any). And her bed felt oddly comfy today.

So she slowly slid back into the bed with a sigh, not bothering to even check the time, someone will wake her up if it's too late. She had not paid much attention to her surroundings but she did notice the person sitting in the bed besides her staring at her. She simply closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but then her mind helpfully asked what a kid was doing in her room, heck what was the kid doing at the hostel. She blinked and looked at the kid to make sure that; yes there was indeed a small girl sitting there staring at wide beautiful emerald eyes.

Sayuktha stared at the girl without blinking and the girl stared back. A few moments passed in silence. Sayuktha's brain slowly woke up and her eyes widened.

Where the hell is she? Who is this kid? She looked around at the grand room lined with many white bedded cots similar to the one she was in and two other kids occupying the beds on the other side. The room was somewhat familiar but she had no idea from where. She turned her attention back to the only other conscious person in the room.

"Good morning." The girl chirped with a small grin which looked decidedly cute.

She could only nod back dumbly. The girl was also somewhat familiar; she had an uncanny similarity with the Ahalya's childhood photos if you exclude the green eyes.

"What's your name?" the girl chimed in her melodic voice.

"Uh… Sayuktha." Sayuktha replied which caused the girls eyes to widen momentarily but then the girl nodded to herself seemingly having come to some conclusion in her mind.

"Who are you? And where are we?" Sayuktha asked glancing around the room warily. This whole situation was very weird. The room felt oddly huge to her.

"What was the last thing you remember?" the girl asked calmly.

"Uh… I was in my hostel room with my friends… That book!" she gasped as her brain provided useful images of what happened or was it a dream? She was confused.

The girl simply smiled gently at her causing her rampaging pulse to calm down.

"Well Sayu we are at the Hogwarts infirmary. And I am Ahalya."

Sayuktha gasped.

"What are you saying? Hogwarts! So it wasn't a dream?! Wait how can you be Liya? You are just a kid." Sayuktha was almost screaming. The let out a huff and pouted, even in her panic she noticed it was very cute, dangerously cute.

"Am not the only kid sis. You too are an eight year old."

One look at her body showed that the girl, her Liya, was telling the truth, with a scream Sayuktha fainted.

Ahalya sighed, damn…

"How they managed to sleep through all the commotion I'll never know." Ahalya muttered looking at the sleeping forms of who she hoped was Sonu and Avanthika.

They had been turned into eight year olds. And they were in Hogwarts. It was sure a lot to take in for the four eighteen year olds.

After her other friends too had their fair share of screaming and fainting, they all sat on their beds wide awake still not processing what was happening. Ahalya was the calmest of the four.

"So what's going to happen now?" Sonu asked quietly.

Just then Madam Pomfrey came in.

"How come she didn't come earlier when we were screaming our lungs out?" Sonu whispered to Sayuktha.

"Oh all of you are awake. You children should be more careful while using magic. I shall call the headmaster immediately."

"No need Poppy, I am already here." Announced Dumbledore from the other side of the room.

When the hell had he came in? The four girls wondered. Poppy as well looked rather shocked.

Poppy left the room soon afterwards. Dumbledore looked at them smiling a rather twisted smile. The four girls tensed, something was not right. Then in the blink of an eye in front of them stood the same woman they had caught a glimpse of at the fair.

"YOU!" Sonu was the source of the outburst. All of them were shocked at seeing the woman who they recognized as the one they saw at the fair. Their memories slowly becoming clear.

The woman laughed mockingly and waved her hand silently casting a silencing charm in the infirmary.

"Me." The woman laughed again.

"What's going on? Who are you and what did you do to us?" Avanthika asked troubled. Sayuktha unconsciously pulled Sonu closer and held her tightly. Ahalya silently stood by Avanthika, holding her hand. They were scared and confused, they needed each other.

"Too many questions…." The woman sighed. "I'll tell you what you need to do. Help them defeat Voldemort and I'll take you all back home."

"What!" Sayuktha spoke dumbfounded.

"Did I stutter?" the woman mocked. Sayuktha growled.

"What the hell do you want?" Sayuktha yelled.

"Exactly what I said." The woman's arrogance was visible.

"Look, why exactly do you want us to do that? And why should we listen to you anyway?" Ahalya asked.

"Isn't that kind of obvious? I am your only way home."

At first silence, then, "You bitch, just who the hell do you think you are kidnapping us and ordering us around?!" To say Sayuktha was pissed was an understatement.

"How rude… Look I told you what I want, now do what I say if you want to see your family anytime in the future."

The four of them were fuming. The woman saw this and sighed.

"Look I'll sweeten the deal for you. Whatever you learn here, you will be able to use when you get back home and by the time you get back not more than an hour would have passed. Think about you got nothing to lose."

"Sweet deal… very tempting… But," Ahalya began

"What's the catch?" Sonu finished for her.

"And what's in it for you?" Sayuktha asked still suspicious, this all sound way too good.

"The catch? None for you actually. And as for me… I kind of…might have… gotten something in return for you helping them in the war…" The woman giggled.

Sayuktha's brow twitched, "So you sold our services without even asking us?"

"Why us? If you know about our world and all, you already know what's going to happen in the Harry Potter series… Why not just sell the information? If you can do all that you said, then you don't really need us…Wouldn't that have been easier, instead of kidnapping us?" Ahalya asked quietly curious.

The woman smiled innocently,"Easier? Yes. But entertaining? No… This way is more fun to do."

"What? Kidnapping people?" Avanthika asked sarcastically.

"No… Maybe… Now that I think about it, it is fun kidnapping people… I got to do that more often…" The woman giggled.

"Way to go genius, now you are giving the crazy lady ideas." Sayuktha grumbled.

Avanthika face palmed. "Oh god… Hey lady, stop daydreaming and tell us who you are… you might as well tell us what exactly you sold us for?"

"I am not gonna tell you my name… it gives me a mysterious air that way… and am not gonna tell you what I sold you for either… it's a secret." The woman said petulantly.

"Oh my god…. We were kidnapped by this, this, lunatic?!" Avanthika screeched in outrage, "Why can't we have a cooler kidnapper…" she wailed, while Sonu patted her shoulder.

"Can you at least tell us why you turned us into eight year olds or was that also for fun?" Sayuktha asked exasperated.

"You are seven not eight and I have a very good reason for de aging you…" The woman said seriously. They all grew silent.

"Because you all look so cute like that…" The woman said with a straight face. Then squealed like a fan girl.

"Really…" Sayuktha drawled.

"I figured as much…" Ahalya said in resignation.

"Not really surprising…" Sonu shrugged.

"You're crazy…" Avanthika nodded sagely.

The woman pouted.

"And the eye colour? Wait… Don't answer… we can already guess your answer…" Sayuktha said.

"Actually I had nothing to do with the eye colour. It's simply a reflection of your magical core that I activated when you entered this realm. You four have very different inherent magic cores, it wouldn't have activated in normal circumstances, but I gave the push that it needed to activate. Your magical cores are unique, that's why I chose you four. You might not know it, but it was the attraction between your magical cores that pulled you together, an unexplained feeling of familiarity when you first met, you all felt that didn't you? The feeling of trust ever since you first met…"

She looked at the surprised faces. But to her surprise they soon turned sour.

"You mean to say that our friendship exist simply because of our magical cores?" Sayuktha asked angry, but couldn't hide the pain. The woman smiled gently much like a mother, surprising them. She knelt near the four girls and pulled all four of them towards her in a gentle hug.

"Silly, What are you saying? The existence of your friendship is because of your heart and nothing else. You magical core can only help you recognize someone of similar origin, whether to become their friends or enemies is entirely up to you. Even if you see that they are good person, whether to trust them or not are up to your heart and no one else."

She pulled back and looked at the four teary girls (being in a seven year old body, really mess with your emotion control… at least that's what they told themselves.). She playfully ruffled Ahalya's hair earning grimace but that soon turned in to a smile.

"Now are you ready to save the world?" Getting three cheerful nods and one nonchalant shrug (Which completely failed to hide the excitement).

The woman turned serious once more, "You need to know something… You understand the concept of parallel realities, right?" She got four reluctant nods unsure the direction in which the conversation was heading.

"Then you should know that, this is not the reality that J K Rowling saw."

"What?" Ahalya asked curious.

"Some people in many of the dimensions are seers. They often get visions of events that occur in other dimensions. Those seers exist as connections between the dimensions, creating a web of reality. So you see this reality we are in is actually a parallel version of what J K Rowling saw."

They nodded thoughtfully.

"What happens differently here?"

"I cannot say, conveying too many details of future are against the rules…" the woman said solemnly,"But, what are rules for if not to be broken…" She did a 180 turn in mood and became cheery.

"At the end of the war, Harry Potter and Voldemort died fighting. But too many of the dark forces had survived, with so much of the strong wizards on the side of light lost, they didn't stand a chance against the dark forces. It was a massacre and the end of Hogwarts."

The four gulped.

"Well I am leaving, have fun you four… And kick some death eater ass." With that she vanished leaving four grinning girls.

 **Meanwhile,**

"What are your plans for those children, Albus?" asked Minerva.

"It would prove disastrous to let the children go uneducated, if they did use accidental magic to cross the Hogwarts wards that means that their magic is very powerful. The sooner they learn to control their powers the safer it is for them and people around them."

"But we will have to send word to their parents. We cannot just take them in without permission."

"We will wait till they wake up."

"But aren't the children a little too young to start studying here?"

"I am more worried what will happen if their magic is left unsupervised, Minerva. Poppy already informed me that the children have unusually large magical cores and considering their age it could lead to disastrous outcomes." Of course, Dumbledore had no choice but to let the children stay.

"But is it wise Albus to let them stay near our children with their rather sudden appearance? And their age also might cause problems." Severus Snape made his presence known.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. Many of the wizard families had requested to let their children join earlier than required, so they could have child prodigies to gloat around. Dumbledore always turned down such requests. But now if he chose to let these four join, it could cause dispute. He would have to tread carefully.

"It seems that our guests are awake." Dumbledore said standing up to leave to the infirmary.

The three professors left to see the mysterious four.

* * *

"Ah… it seems all of you are awake… I hope you had a good sleep." Dumbledore spoke kindly and cheerfully.

The four of them nodded timidly.

"Do you know where you are?" Dumbledore asked kindly. The four girls shook their head in negative.

"Well you see, you are at Hogwarts, a school where we teach magic." The girls did their best to act surprised.

"Magic?" the green eyed girl spoke timidly.

"Yes. And my name is Dumbledore, I am the headmaster. This here is, Professor Minerva McGonagall, she teaches transfiguration. And this is Professor Severus Snape he is our potions master." The girls kept staring wide eyed. They were still wary of the strangers and perhaps didn't even understand everything the headmaster just said (At least that's what Minerva and Snape thought. Dumbledore knew better).

"So what are your names? If you tell us your names I'll show you some magic." Minerva said trying to make the girls more relaxed.

The girls looked nervous for a moment, but the green eyed girl stepped forward and spoke.

"Hello. I'm Ahalya. I'm seven; but I'll be eight soon." She said shyly. This prompted the other children to act as well.

The violet eyed girl stepped forward next, "Hi, I'm Sonu. I'm eight." The girl chirped with an adorable smile.

"Avanthika. Eight." The blue eyed girl that stood at the back said while looking intently at Snape. Snape for his part glared right back. Much to Snape's ire, the girl seemed to have trouble holding in her giggles after seeing his glare. Snape felt rather insulted and even more surprised; was his glare really that hilarious?

The last to speak was the golden eyed girl who stood observing all of them, "Sayuktha. Seven, soon to be eight."

McGonagall seemed very happy with the improvement. The males of the room were not really that excited, both for different reasons.

McGonagall waved her faithful wand to display what she had promised the children.

And just like that, one of the chairs turned into a little pony.

The children looked very excited, although Sayuktha really tried not to express her excitement. Snape approved the girl for her attempt at hiding her emotions.

"We can do magic too." The words that tumbled out of Ahalya's mouth made them all surprised, including Ahalya who hadn't even meant to speak.

Ahalya's body acted without her permission; she waved her hand in the air with a frown of concentration and lo and behold, butterflies made out of wisps of sparkling green energy erupted into the air. Fluttering around in a mass, the butterflies effectively concealed her panicked face. Her body had just acted without her control, but before she could really start pulling her hair out, a familiar face appeared among the butterflies with a mischievous smirk and a wink. It was only visible to the four girls.

As Ahalya sighed, not in relief, but in annoyance, the three professors were caught up on thinking about the consequences of what they were seeing.

Wand less magic, that too in a child so young! It was obvious to the professors that Ahalya was able to do magic consciously (a misconception on their part); unlike accidental magic that wizard children were prone to. If what the child said was correct, then all four of them knew how to use magic. As they thought about the consequences of this; Dumbledore decided that this was the perfect reason to let them stay at Hogwarts.

"Could you tell us your family names?" McGonagall asked sweetly trying to figure out which wizard family the four were from.

"We don't have any." Sayuktha said lowering her head. "We grew up at the orphanage. All the people at the orphanage called us names because they thought that we were weird." Sayuktha knew the instinctive lie was implanted in their head by the crazy witch. Sayuktha thought that she heard a growl of indignation after she thought that.

McGonagall looked at the four sadly. Magical children in muggle orphanages were always tragic.

"They kicked us out of the orphanage… And we don't have anywhere to go." The four professors looked surprised and angry at the silent statement from Sonu. How could anyone do that to such young children?

Minerva gave Dumbledore a perplexed look; this made things both easier and difficult.

"Don't worry, the four of you can stay here at the school. There are lot of kids here who could do magic, like you." Dumbledore said to the four wide eyed children.

As he turned to leave, he spoke to Minerva and Snape; "It seems that I have to have a talk with the minister."

Minerva flashed a smile at the children; "If you need anything, just ask Madam Pomfrey."

"Who?"

"The kind woman who treated you."

"Oh! Okay. Will you come back, professor?" Avanthinka asked.

"We will."

With that all three professors left the room.

"That went better that I thought." Sonu muttered as the doors closed.

* * *

"When you said that you would send help, I thought it would be more that just four children." Dumbledore said as his office door closed.

"Believe me, they are more than just children." The honey sweet voice answered from the shadows.

"I guess I have not much of a choice. How do you expect me to keep the four of them here without causing too much trouble?" Dumbledore had the urge to rub his forehead sensing an incoming headache. The woman stepped out of the shadows with a smirk.

"With these." She showed the old man four wands that took form in her hand.

One wand was made of pure crystal with the three dimensional image of a golden serpent visible inside the crystal wand.

The next one was so black that it put darkness to shame with intricate blood red and golden runes decorating the wand.

The third one was golden brown colour and had sapphire blue runes written in such a way that it resembled blue flames decorating the wand.

The next one was another crystal wand; a pale glowing violet in colour, something similar to molten lava was visible at the core of the wand.

Dumbledore's eyes widened in recognition as he saw the four wands. "Are they…"

"Yes and no." She answered before he could even finish the question. "These are not the originals, but these are just as much, if not more, powerful than the originals. And since no one knows much about these four particular wands; there will no question about their powers and no one find out that they are not the real ones."

"And how do you expect me to explain how I got hold of four seemingly legendary wands? And you know what will happen if the wands do accept the children, right?"

"Just say that they appeared out of thin air. And don't worry, these wands will accept them." With that the woman vanished leaving the four wands on the headmaster's table.

"Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful." The headmaster said more than a little frustrated.

* * *

 **Well that's it for now.**

 **Please Review if you like it.**


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